Big items to consider: A recent TechTarget story highlights the evolution of network platform requirements as more and more devices – from cars to shipping containers – become connected. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission recent issued warnings to a dozen Android app developers for using code known as “SilverPush” in their apps, which uses a smartphone’s microphone to listen to nearby TV audio in an effort to deliver more targeted ads. A recent report around mobile app risk assessment by Flexera Software talks about BYOD security issues related to ‘March Madness’. And finally, Nintendo recently announced its entry in the mobile app business with its latest app Miitomo launched in Japan, an app that has already been downloaded by a million users.

As analyst Lee Doyle recently noted, the complexity of IoT networking needs – in terms of device connectivity, data analysis and security and integration with existing IT systems – represents a major challenge for most organizations.

For example, selecting the right wireless network is key for collecting and handling a heavy stream of real-time data. The industry also currently lacks mature standards that are essential for interoperability of various IoT devices/systems. There are also multiple challenges with regard to securing, managing and integrating network platforms when it comes to IoT applications. Overall, organizations need partners that can “provide the expertise and professional services capabilities to integrate, secure and manage a number of network platform elements.”

Is your cell phone spying on you? Thanks to hidden code in some Apps, concerns about illegal cell phone spying are growing. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission recently sent warning letters to 12 smartphone app developers for allegedly compromising users’ privacy by packaging audio monitoring software into their products.

The software, from an Indian company called SilverPush, allows apps to use the smartphone’s microphone to listen to nearby TV audio in an effort to deliver more targeted ads. SilverPush allows the apps to surreptitiously monitor the television viewing habits of people who downloaded apps with the software included, the FTC said.

In its mobile app risk assessment report, “March Madness or April Fools,” Flexera Software highlighted BYOD security issues by analyzing the annual March Madness craze as employees are using apps on their corporate and BYOD devices to stream content, complete brackets and track March Madness activities.

The report focused on what data these apps access, what device features they can interact with and could these apps pose a potential security risk to organizations or violate their BYOD policies. The report examined 28 popular media and sporting apps that are available in the Apple App Store to assess them for potential BYOD risk to organizations.

Remember your favorite video game company, Nintendo? Considered a latecomer to mobile gaming, it has finally launched its first mobile app, Miitomo, in Japan and it is expected to be available for users in the U.S. by the end of this month.

The new social messaging service has already garnered more than a million Japanese users and it is the No. 1 free download in the country’s App Store, according to data from App Annie. Nintendo’s stock is getting a big boost off the news. Nintendo shares rose Tuesday more than they have in over a month in Japan, jumping 8.2%, as Bloomberg reports. It’s a promising sign for a company that has lost about 80% of its stock value since Apple’s iPhone came on the market back in 2007.

Big items to consider: WhatsApp, a popular messaging app, recently announced app updates and mobile platform changes as it celebrates its 7th anniversary. Apple may also be getting us closer to making the term, ‘Anybody can code,’ a reality, with its Apple Swift programming language. Finally, a recent survey by InMobi focuses on the mobile app ecosystem to examine the most popular apps – and where the app money truly lies.

Big changes are coming to WhatsApp, the popular messaging app. WhatsApp Inc. recently announced that in order to improve its mobile messaging app’s speed, reliability, and security, it will only support phones with the latest mobile platforms. This move might affect users of Blackberry and Nokia devices, which do not run iOS or Android platforms. WhatsApp has also finally decided to get rid of its $1 annual subscription fee to attract more users. The company continues to grow as it celebrates its 7th founding anniversary (WhatsApp was introduced in 2009). Today, WhatsApp has an estimated one billion monthly active users worldwide.

Apple’s latest programming language, Swift, is becoming more popular among developers — largely due to its ease of use. It has ability to analyzes the code and detect any mistakes, and “ready to use” SDK frameworks.

Swift’s biggest benefit is that it makes it simpler to write apps. It requires less text to code a given command. Plus, using the Swift Playgrounds feature in XCode, Apple’s suite for building apps, developers can get a real-time preview of the app. To help avoid common coding errors, Swift programmers can enter an evaluation command that analyzes the code and detects any mistakes — a feature Objective-C lacks. These new developments will definitely help app developers save precious time, though it does leave us with one important question: what will happen to custom app developers? Only time will tell.

For the first time in about eight years, we saw a decline in the small business customer base of app developers (in terms of revenue and per-project value). The primary reason cited is the rise of white labels and SDKs. “Uber for X” toolkits have indeed become a force to reckon with. Small businesses increasingly rely on “ready to use” frameworks rather than opting for custom development.

The mobile revolution and the surge in smartphone usage is driving the market for mobile applications while mobile app development is a prospering industry which continues to expand. The growth in consumer demand for mobile apps and the increase in time spent on the apps is encouraging for both aspiring and seasoned developers to innovate across mobile devices.

InMobi surveyed mobile developers across the world to better understand the ever-growing ecosystem. These insights were drawn from over 1,000+ respondents across 155 countries on the latest trends in the mobile app ecosystem, including developer mindshare, platform of choice, revenue models, challenges and motivations, and mobile ad network preferences. The survey found that Android is by far the most popular platform among developers (86%), followed by Apple iOS (57%). However, when it comes to making money, Windows Phone apps developers seem to earn the highest per month, per app, when compared to iOS and Android developers.

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